Nearly $43,000 stolen from Swanville Lions
Tue, 03/14/2023 - 6:54pm
admin
By:
Jason C. Brown
The Swanville Lions Club, which is known around the area for its charitable giving and hosting events such as the Mid-Summer Carnival and its ice fishing tournament, could have its charitability hindered as a result of a theft of its gambling proceeds.
A Morrison County resident, Ethan Lee Kestner, 19, was recently charged in Morrison County District Court with one count of felony theft for allegedly stealing nearly $43,000 in charitable gambling proceeds. It is alleged the money was stolen from electronic pull tab funds at the Stone Hill Bar and Grill, located just west of Randall near the Todd County line.
Stone Hill Bar and Grill had hosted the charitable gambling for the Swanville Lions Club through December 2022. The Lions Club halted its charitable gambling when the former gambling manager noticed a large amount of cash missing from the gambling funds account.
It is believed that the theft of funds began in October 2022 and lasted through December 2022.
According to a report made with the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office, the bar manager told the former gambling manager that his adult son, Kestner, was playing E-tabs on credit and not paying for the games.
Kestner allegedly told investigators that he “did not fully realize that he was playing with real money on the tablets.”
Through the investigation with the Morrison County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division of the Department of Public Safety, Kestner is alleged to have played the games while logged into his father’s account during times and days when the bar was not open.
Kestner faces 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
